old thumper Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 (edited) The old Frog Hornet kit, never built this before but it looks decent enough. The plan is to re-scribe and paint silver, this reason for this is just because I have wanted a silver Hornet ever since seeing one pictured in Look and Learn when I was about 8. It has only taken about 40 years for me to get this far. The kit gives two decal options, a green/grey 41 squadron aircraft and a grey 19 squadron aircraft, both with pru blue undersides and based at Church Fenton. After an hour or two's research I have discovered that the 19 squadron aircraft PX 293 was an early F-3 that originally served in aluminium dope finish. At a later point PX293 was then painted grey before finally being upgraged to F4 standard and getting passed on to a Malaya based squadron where it served in green'grey camouflage. The decals provided with the kit will be suitable for an early silver 19 squadron aircraft in my opinion Edited March 7, 2017 by old thumper 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Nice to see this old girl getting some modelling love! Christian, exiled to africa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG058 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Very nice choice! Good luck with your build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Another Hornet to watch Looking forward to your start Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Does the early version mean you can ditch the tail fin fillet or was it already there on the F3? I always thought the Hornet looked much better without it. Looking forward to your progress on this one. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 19 hours ago, AdrianMF said: Does the early version mean you can ditch the tail fin fillet or was it already there on the F3? I always thought the Hornet looked much better without it. Looking forward to your progress on this one. Regards, Adrian To be honest I don't know for sure, but i think they did have the fillets . I have found and saved a few old photos, so will check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 As already said: "Great choice!!!". This kit may be old, but you have to work damn hard to find one rivet on its peachy skin! I love it! A silver Hornet is good, very good! Have fun! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 17 hours ago, old thumper said: To be honest I don't know for sure, but i think they did have the fillets My worry too Wikipedia says: "Two further prototypes, PX230 and PX239, were completed for an all-weather night fighter, the Hornet NF.21. PX239, originally built as a Hornet F.20, was outfitted with power-operated folding wings and a large dorsal fillet, which was later retrofitted onto all production aircraft to comply with a new requirement to provide "feet off" directional stability with one engine stopped" HTH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 (edited) While not the actual aircraft that I am trying to model this is the look I am hoping to achieve. From the casual research I have carried out the Hornet appears to be a wonderfully smooth and streamlined aircraft with (unlike most metal aircraft) an almost complete lack of panel lines. From what I can gather the Hornet was painted an alll over silver, although different areas as seen above would stand out in different shades depending on light and base material. The plan is to spray a single shade of alclad over different base coats to achieve the patchy look above. Probably white aluminium over grey and gloss black alclad primers. I have now sanded down the raised panel lines and replaced them with faint etched markings. Some panel lines have been removed completely and not replaced as they do not appear to be visible in any photos I have seen. The three lined band around the fuselage has been replaced by a single raised slanted fat band more in keeping with reference pictures. For now I have used miliput to create this band but will probably replace with layered decal paper before undercoating. So far the kit has gone together very nicely, although I regret not fitting the exhausts when gluing the wing halves together. Edited March 20, 2017 by old thumper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Hi OT these maybe of interest Note David Collins is "Mr Hornet", he's building a 1:1 replica, here's a thread on the fog kit Neat work on the kit. One of the few Frog kits I have kept, stashed for 35 years.... cheers T 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 Thanks very much Troy I shall make note of and incorporate the David Collins panel line instructions. Not being a detail monster I will dodge a lot of things, there is only so much time I want to spend on this old kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Looking good OT and good luck with the painting. I did some research for mine and found another good site for reference, summary posted here. That site says the main skin was plywood with alloy control surfaces, leading edges and panels on the bottom from nacelle to wingtip. Sadly it's not clear if the whole thing was then painted as well. HTH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 4 hours ago, CedB said: Looking good OT and good luck with the painting. I did some research for mine and found another good site for reference, summary posted here. That site says the main skin was plywood with alloy control surfaces, leading edges and panels on the bottom from nacelle to wingtip. Sadly it's not clear if the whole thing was then painted as well. HTH Thanks for that, I am wrestling with a lot of indecision on how to paint the thing at the moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 6 hours ago, CedB said: Looking good OT and good luck with the painting. I did some research for mine and found another good site for reference, summary posted here. That site says the main skin was plywood with alloy control surfaces, leading edges and panels on the bottom from nacelle to wingtip. Sadly it's not clear if the whole thing was then painted as well. HTH 13 hours ago, old thumper said: While not the actual aircraft that I am trying to model this is the look I am hoping to achieve. From the casual research I have carried out the Hornet appears to be a wonderfully smooth and streamlined aircraft with (unlike most metal aircraft) an almost complete lack of panel lines. From what I can gather the Hornet was painted an alll over silver, although different areas as seen above would stand out in different shades depending on light and base material. 6 hours ago, CedB said: Looking good OT and good luck with the painting. I did some research for mine and found another good site for reference, summary posted here. That site says the main skin was plywood with alloy control surfaces, leading edges and panels on the bottom from nacelle to wingtip. Sadly it's not clear if the whole thing was then painted as well. HTH Painted all over I think The colour photo OT posted I suspect is not High speed silver (ie Aluminium paint) but actually quite weathered Medium Sea Grey. why? Note the lower engine nacelles are in PRU Blue, note David Collins Hornets Quote To date the collection includes: 64sqn F1 UK high altitude fighter 65sqn F3 UK late scheme day fighter 19sqn F3 UK early scheme day fighter 41sqn F3 UK intruder cammo 33sqn F4 FEAF late scheme ground attack cammo 45sqn F3 FEAF early scheme ground attack So, 6 down, and only one to go (80sqn FEAF early scheme day fighter) the two on the right are in this scheme, Med Sea Grey over PRU Blue. which was the high altitude day fighter scheme, first seen on Spitfire VII's IIRC. The plane in the bottom right is the initial service scheme, with the B type roundels. I'm guessing the F.3 in the colour photo was a test plane, note it still uses the C type roundels, and the one in squadron service were kept very neat and tidy as it was peacetime. I presume that David has not been on the site recently, or not spotted this, as he would know. HTH T 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 (edited) A picture of the actual aircraft PX293. There are other Church Fenton Hornet pictures online in the same aluminium finish, unfortunately I know little about them though. Pretty sure the pictured Church Fenton Hornet is all over silver, but yes as Troy says the colour photo looks to have pru blue undersides. From memory I think the colour picture was taken during a test flight from Christchurch, another picture exists of it flying along Bournemouth beach, also I believe it was actually a Sea Hornet.. Edited March 20, 2017 by old thumper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) A bit of progress. While spraying the props matt black I took the opportunity to give the model an investigatory dusting of paint, luckily no more filling was needed. The miliput fuselage band was removed and was replaced with liquid filler which I will tidy later when dry. The cockpit was also given a coat of matt black and a pilot figure added, in this case the frog figure has been replaced by a matchbox one. A wooden crate plays the part of the radio to the rear of the cockpit, it was best I could think of and besides it will be hardly visible. The canopy was masked and has now been added and given a coat of interior green. Edited March 21, 2017 by old thumper 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) well, this got me googling, turns out the colour pic is TT202, "Sea Hornet F Mk 20 TT202 was used as a company trials aircraft. " so my "PRU Blue" underside is cobblers.... but it is a weathered trials aircraft here's a colour shot of some Sea Hornets that look to be overalll HSS De Havilland Sea Hornet 1947. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr here's a 19 Sq plane in HSS another in HSS I'm away from my references, so can't remember all the details, but note how clean and tidy the HSS planes are also worth a read scans of the Profile on the Dh Hornet are here http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Aircraft-Profiles/Britain/Modern/De-Havilland-Hornet-174 if really want an accurate answer, I suggest sending David Collins a PM, he's a helpful chap. the rattiest looking Hornets are these, in Malaya I think cheers T PS D.H. Hornet F.3s PX293 and PX332 from Church Fenton I note PX293 is the one you mention, this is a new pic for me looks like a film still from http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft28084.htm has another less clear shot of them banking away I'd need to refer to a book to be certain if this is HSS or MSG over PRU Blue, but IIRC the High Altitude scheme was replaced by HSS and that by the intruder scheme of Dark green/Sea grey over PR blue, as seen by the pic in the background Edited March 21, 2017 by Troy Smith add images details 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 I recognize one of the photos as being over the needles. The PX389 picture wears the same QVA squadron codes as PX293, which is interesting as when I enlarged my earlier picture I couldn't be 100% sure it was of PX293. It does however look much more like PX293 than PX389 when enlarged so I suppose I can at least take comfort from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Nice progress OT - I'm pleased the SH kit has the fuselage band; good detailing Great references Troy (as always) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 The Hornet really was a beautiful aircraft so I'm delighted to see you working on this one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 (edited) Thanks Col. Yesterday I gave it a coat of Alclad II grey primer and microfiller, really good stuff but it is just a shame they don't sell it in rattle cans as it is a pig to clean up the airbrush after using it. Edited March 29, 2017 by old thumper 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) After giving the whole model a double coat of pledge I masked off the areas to be sprayed with Alclad II gloss primer. With the primer applied and the masking tape removed I gave the model a quick rub down with a Halfords fine finishing cloth (similar to micro-mesh but cheaper) A coat of Alclad semi-matt aluminum was then added, the masked areas stand out differently depending on the light available. At certain angles and in certain light they can not be seen at all. Pretty pleased with the final finish as it is close to what I was hoping for. Edited March 30, 2017 by old thumper 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Very nice OT, that looks spot on 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 (edited) Almost done now, mostly just the transfers to add. After a little trouble the exhausts went in fine, I just back filled the holes with pva, let it dry and popped them in no problem. The exhausts were painted in Alclad light burnt metal and the propeller spinners and undercarriage in Alclad Chrome, both on top of black primer. It is a shame the propellers and spinners were moulded in one piece as it is that the exhaust pipes are webbed together, for a forty plus year old kit it is great though. Edited April 5, 2017 by old thumper 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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